Let Me Keep You Warm
by Xennariel
Summary: Riza gets caught in a rainstorm while looking for Roy and when she finally finds him, she's drenched and cold and has nothing to change into.


This was a prompt request from an anon on Tumblr about Riza wearing Roy's shirt and I realized I never posted it here, so now I am. Enjoy.

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When Riza got ready to leave the office for the day it was already dark and well past normal working hours. It was rare for her to be the only one working late. When there was work that needed to be done after hours, Roy always stayed as well, though that was mostly because it was work _he_ had put off and Riza was kind enough to stay and help him so he could finish at a reasonable hour.

That night, however, Roy was not there, having left right at the end of the day with everyone else, claiming he had something important to do. Riza had been behind on her own paperwork due to having been out with the flu a few days prior and stayed late that night to catch back up.

Hawkeye sighed as she stood and stacked her finished work neatly in the corner of her desk before going to do the same for the colonel. He had a tendency to drop papers and lose them and just be generally untidy with his work space. It was something she first noticed about him back when he was an apprentice under her father and he never grew out of it.

Riza always made sure to help him out by cleaning up his desk after work. She wasn't sure how he managed to make such a mess of things in one day, but he never failed to end up with paperwork and pens and a plethora of other things strewn all over his desk by the end of the day.

While restacking his paperwork, Riza happened to glance at the top sheet and she frowned when she noticed the mandatory completion date. It was due early the next morning. She flipped through the rest of the work in that pile and discovered at least a dozen others that were due at the same time. Sighing again, she clutched the work to her chest and hurried out of the office. Mustang was lucky to have an adjutant that looked out for him as well as Hawkeye did.

After a brisk walk to Roy's apartment, Riza knocked on the door and became increasingly more frustrated and a little worried when Roy didn't answer after she knocked several more times. Where would he be at this hour? He said he had something important to do, but surely he would have been home by now. She paused to consider where he would be and could only think of one place he would go so late at night.

The walk from Roy's apartment to Madame Christmas' bar wasn't too long, but halfway there, seemingly out of nowhere, a rainstorm hit. The paperwork in Riza's arms would have been destroyed, but she used her uniform jacket to cover them and she ended up drenched within minutes instead. At least she managed to save the important documents.

Madame Christmas' bar appeared to be empty that night and Riza almost thought it was closed had it not been for the lights and laughter coming from inside. She shivered from standing out in the rain and pushed open the door in a hurry. Despite her disheveled appearance and abrupt entrance, no one really seemed to notice her walk in. There was loud upbeat jazz coming from a record player behind the bar and the girls were all sitting at different tables, talking, laughing, and playing card games. The place was decorated with streamers and balloons and a large sign was taped to the bar that said 'Happy Birthday Madame' and Riza suddenly understood why Roy said he had something important to do.

Riza spotted Roy easily as he was the only male in attendance. He was seated at the bar next to his aunt, sipping what Riza guessed was probably whisky on the rocks. It was his favorite go-to drink after all.

Straightening herself up, she marched over to him. Roy saw her approaching and his expression went from happy to nervous with one look at her. She was soaking wet, hair half out of her clip, a stern scowl on her face. She did not look pleased and if she was there then that meant she had been looking for him which also meant that her current state was his fault. Madame Christmas also must have put the pieces together because she grinned and pat Roy on the shoulder before standing and walking away to leave Roy to fend for himself against the whirlwind of reprimands that his lieutenant was surely about to give.

"Lieutenant," Roy said, grinning nervously. "Is everything all right? What happened?"

Riza glared at Roy and unwrapped the stack of paperwork from her jacket, holding it out to him without a word. Roy frowned.

"Were these really so urgent that you needed to come find me?"

"Yes, sir, they're due in the morning. I'll not have you get the whole team potentially in trouble because you were absent minded and didn't bother looking at due dates."

Oh yes, she was annoyed, he could tell just from the minor inflection in her voice.

Roy took the papers from her, brushing her hand as he did so and practically recoiled when he was met with her icy skin.

"You're freezing and soaked! You shouldn't have gone looking for me in the rain. You just got over the flu, you're going to get sick again."

Before Riza could say anything, Roy grabbed her by the arm, nervousness about her anger suddenly forgotten, and led her to the stairway behind a door in the back of the bar. He ushered her up the stairs, down a hall, and into a small room that was furnished with nothing more than a twin bed, desk, bookshelf, and dresser. Riza didn't need to ask to know this must have been Roy's room when he was a kid.

"Take off your uniform before you catch your death."

Riza turned and eyed Roy incredulously.

"You can't be serious, sir. I should be going home."

"Not like that you shouldn't," Roy replied, staring back at her defiantly. "You stay in those soaked clothes any longer and you'll get sick again."

Roy began unbuttoning his own shirt and Riza's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Colonel?"

"I don't keep clothes here and the girls don't live here anymore. The Madame recently built a new place for them to stay. So you'll have to make due with wearing my shirt until your clothes dry." Roy threw his shirt on the bed and turned to leave the room so Riza could change. "I'll be right outside. Let me know when you're done and I'll put your clothes on the line."

Roy shut the door behind him and Riza sighed for the umpteenth time that night. She began to peel off her wet uniform, but stopped halfway at a knock on the door.

"Here, you might want a towel," came Roy's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Riza opened the door a crack, just enough to stick her arm out to grab the offered towel, then shut the door to finish changing. Once she was out of her clothes and as dry as she could be, she pulled Roy's shirt over her head. The sleeves were just slightly too long and the shirt reached down to her mid thigh. Roy wasn't that much taller than her, but wearing his shirt definitely made that few inches of difference apparent.

She grabbed her uniform and opened the door, handing Roy the offending garments. Roy took them from her and couldn't help eyeing her appreciatively. He grinned.

"Well, I honestly didn't think my shirt could look so good, but I have been proven very wrong."

Riza glared at him, though she had to fight not to smile at his comment.

"Just please go hang up my clothes so I can go home some time tonight."

"Right, right."

Riza sat on the bed and a few minutes later, Roy returned, a soft looking blanket held in his arms.

"Here," he said as he stepped up to her, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "This should keep you warm while we wait."

"Thank you," Riza said, and though the blanket was warm, she still shivered involuntarily.

Roy noticed and sat on the bed next to her, unwrapping the blanket from around her so he could pull her close, then re-covered them both with the blanket.

"What are you doing?" Riza asked, though it wasn't as if she didn't enjoy being in his arms.

"I can't have you getting sick again. Sharing body heat is one of the better ways of keeping warm. I'm just looking out for your wellbeing."

"I see," Riza replied, her lips tugging up into a small smile. "Well thank you for being so thoughtful."

The sarcasm was evident in her tone and Roy chuckled. She knew very well he just wanted an excuse to hold her, but she wasn't complaining as she snuggled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"How long do you think it will take for your uniform to dry?"

"A couple of hours, at least. What will we do until then?"

Roy grinned down at Riza, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Oh, I don't know, I'm sure we can think of something," he said, pulling her hair the rest of the way out of her clip and running his fingers through the damp strands.


End file.
